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OFWs may be terrorists?

BAGUIO CITY (Apr. 14) — Migrante-Cordillera criticized the Department of Justice (DOJ) for tagging overseas Filipino workers (OFW) from the Middle East as “terrorist infected” and for directing the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) to monitor the entry of returning OFWs from the said countries.

Migrante-Cordillera Spokesperson Flora Belinan said that DOJ’s action is unfair to OFWs working in the Middle East. She explained that these OFWs were only forced to work in the war torn areas because of the economic condition in the country.
“Sino ba naman ang gustong magtrabaho sa ginta ng giyera at sa ibang bansa kung merong matinong trabaho sa sarili mong bayan,” she stressed.

Belinan added that it is the government which forces Filipino compatriots to find jobs abroad because of its failure to provide decent and good paying jobs. She claimed that the government is also sending millions of Filipinos abroad through its labor export program.

Futher, Belinan said that the government should instead focus on ensuring the safety and protection of OFWs in the Middle East and even in other countries.

In a news release, Migrante Youth Spokesperson Mac Ramirez said that “they (OFWs) are not terrorists, they are ordinary fathers and mothers who are forced to seek employment even in the most dangerous situations abroad because of the extreme poverty in the country and the Arroyo administration’s failure to provide gainful employment to its people”. # Kim Quitasol for NORDIS

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